Product Details

• Actors: Garry Shandling, Jeffrey Tambor, Rip Torn, Scott Thompson, Mary Lynn Rajskub
• Directors: Todd Holland
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DTS Surround Sound, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• Run Time: 322 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767847563
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,957 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete First Season" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Hey now! Now that even Green Acres has its own boxed set, it's time for the The Larry Sanders Show to hit DVD! Join Larry and his guests Carol Burnett, Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, Peter Falk, Mimi Rogers, Billy Crystal, Catherine O'Hara, Richard Simmons, and Bob Saget for one of the '90s best and brightest comedies. Before The Sopranos and Sex and the City, this was HBO's must-hook-up series. The 13 episodes (on three discs) that comprise the first season brilliantly set the stage for what was the funniest and savviest show business comedy since The Dick Van Dyke Show (but with way, way more of an edge). Go backstage and meet the people who toil on "The Larry Sanders Show," the quintessential late-night talk show. Series creator Garry Shandling's Larry is so self-centered and neurotic, he makes Alan Brady look like Mister Rogers. Emmy winner Rip Torn is Artie, Larry's "always ready to jump in" pit bull of a producer, with Jeffrey Tambor as sidekick Hank Kingsley, former cruise director and "poor deluded bastard." The flawless ensemble also includes Penny Johnson as Larry's indispensable secretary Beverly, Janeane Garofalo at her deadpan best as talent booker Paula, and Jeremy Piven as cocksure head writer Jerry. With its unflinching portrayals of ego clashes, petty jealousies, and office politics and paranoia, this hyper-realistic series produced more hilariously awkward and squirm-inducing moments than The King of Comedy. But the boundless pleasures of The Larry Sanders Show make each episode ripe for repeat viewings (in which you can catch and savor the nuances of the performances or the throw-away brilliance of the dialogue). Adding to the fun and verisimilitude are the celebrity guest stars who tweak their personas. There's a less-than-gracious Burnett in the episode "Spiders," a duplicitous Carvey in "The Guest Host," and an insecure Williams in "Hank's Contract." The first disc contains an interview of Shandling conducted by Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic Tom Shales. No flipping, lest you miss the great "Rip Torn story" on how the formidable actor was cast. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

EPISODE 1 "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY": Guest Star - Robert Hays. Larry finds himself in opposition to a network executive who wants him to do live commercials for "The Garden Weasel."

EPISODE 2 "PROMISE": Guest Stars Dana Delany, David Spade and William Shatner. Larry can't decide what he should do when a comic scheduled for the show appears first on a rival talk show.

EPISODE 3 "SPIDERS": Guest Stars Carol Burnett, Jon Lovitz, Steve Duchesne and Steve Kutcher. Larry battles his reluctance when real live spiders are scheduled for the show, and he tries to find a sketch to do with guest Carol Burnett.

EPISODE 4 "THE GUEST HOST": Guest Star Dana Carvey. Dana Carvey's success as a guest host on the show makes Larry very, very nervous.

EPISODE 5 "THE NEW PRODUCER": Guest Stars Robert Morton and Jeff Cesario. A friend of Larry's replaces Artie temporarily as producer, but schemes to make the job permanent.

EPISODE 6 "THE FLIRT": Guest Stars Mimi Rogers and Michael Richards. Jeannie becomes very jealous and accuses Larry of flirting with a playful Mimi Rogers on the show.

EPISODE 7 "HANK'S CONTRACT": Guest Stars Robin Williams and George Foreman. It's contract negotiation time for Hank and he's going for a raise, and a golf cart.

EPISODE 8 "OUT OF THE LOOP": Guest Star Peter Falk. Larry feels out of touch when he's the last to know that his head writer is having a torrid office affair.

EPISODE 9 "THE TALK SHOW": Guest Stars Billy Crystal and Catherine O'Hara. An argument at Jeannie's home causes Larry to lose his concentration during the show that night.

EPISODE 10 "THE PARTY": Guest Star Martin Mull. Larry's little dinner at home with Arthur, initiated by Jeannie,escalates into a full-blown party and causes Larry to become extremely paranoid.

EPISODE 11 "WARMTH": Guest Star Richard Simmons. Worried about his ratings, Larry hires a focus group to help tighten up the show.

EPISODE 12 "A BRUSH WITH THE ELBOW OF GREATNESS": Guest Star Bela Shaw. Larry makes the tabloids when a woman claims he knocked her into a magazine rack and neglected to apologize.

EPISODE 13 "HEY NOW": Guest Stars Bob Saget, Ray Combs and Earl Holliman. Hank falls asleep during the show, which is just the last straw for a fed up Larry.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a reason why Season 2 & 3 are not out.... April 17, 2006

By Robert Nagle

Format:DVD

I'm sure that most of the people looking at this page are in fact mystified why later seasons haven't already come out. I'm reading between the lines here, but I'm guessing the reason is copyright and clearance issues. Each episode showed live music from bands, and I have a feeling that contracts were written to grant permission for HBO to broadcast the show, not to sell it. Now that Time/Warner wants to put out DVDs, it's hardly surprising that music companies would try to extort as much money from Time/Warner as they can.

May 23 update: Gary Shandling says on tonight show that Season 2 is coming out in November.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Television at its best August 20, 2003

By Susan Fong

Format:DVD

"The Larry Sanders Show" is perhaps the most realistic and funniest television series ever written about show business. In this case, the "business" is producing a late night talk show hosted by the amiable, humorous Larry Sanders, a Johnny Carson-like character deftly portrayed by Garry Shandling. (Shandling is also the creator and frequent writer of this series.)

This classy television series shrewdly examines the behind-the-scenes and in front of the camera workings of a nightly television show. "The Larry Sanders Show" is a compendium of network executives, producers, actors, and agents whose enlarged yet fragile egos often clash with each other. The results are caustic and hilarious.

The gifted ensemble cast which includes Shandling, Rip Torn, Janeane Garofalo, and Jeffrey Tambor deliver the incisive, witty dialogue with ease. The concept and structure of this series is so realistic that you often feel as though you are watching a documentary on "How to" or "How NOT to" grind out a nightly talk show.

"The Larry Sanders Show" is television at its best. Please don't miss it!

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars You took a puck in the nuts March 17, 2004

By K. Gittins

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I had only seen a couple episodes of the Larry Sanders Show before I bought the DVD. It is one of the funniest (fake) "talk shows" out there (better than Letterman or Leno, who I can not watch).

I'm not a huge fan of Garry Shandling outside of the show, but in this show he hits it right. Plus, Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor really shine in nearly every episode. Kind of funny to hear them swear once in a while, or more (forgetting that it was originally on HBO).

The so-called guests on the show are good too, as they blend fact and fiction. Billy Crystal gets upset when Larry talks about his old stuff instead of his new movie he is trying to plug, Carol Burnett worries that Larry's balls showed under his Tarzan outfit, etc.

Waiting for season 2.

Recommended.